National Golf Products is best known for its revolutionary Golf Mat, which it developed in conjunction with golf pro Vijay Singh. Now, the company has brought out The Radar, a companion Doppler radar-based golf performance evaluation aid.

No matter how hard you practice or how often you ride that lawn tractor, you’ll never get the same kind of swing in your backyard as you will on the course. The pros at National Golf Products feel your pain and have come up with The Golf Mat by Vijay Singh. It’s a small piece of synthetic lawn designed to closely match the teeing ground, and it plays a central role in the company’s range of practice nets, par cages and stance mats. The Radar by Vijay Singh fits right into the company’s product line. Running on a single 9-volt battery, the device works like a speed-trap cop for golf balls: The patented Radar gauges the velocity and travel of your ball, including the carry. It’s a good tool for distance management, as it gives you real-world numbers on your performance. The Radar is a handy size as well: At 4-by-6 inches and 1.5” thick, it’s small enough to slip into your golf bag, and the rugged construction will keep the gadget in working order if said bag happens to roll over on top of it.

The fact that The Radar is essentially a rebranded Zelocity PureContact doesn’t change the fact that it’s a pretty cool gadget for semi-serious or pro-golfers. Measuring the course and speed of your ball will go a long way to helping you analyze your game and make adjustments where needed. The fact that this little device can take a licking without giving up the ghost will help keep you evaluating your game for as long as you need to, no matter how often you toss your golf bag around. That being said, it’s unclear how long you’d need The Radar once you’ve perfected your fabulous golf chops. Some would say that you should always be improving. Others know that there’s only one Tiger, and are OK with that. How long you keep this geegaw running depends on which of those groups you belong to.